Rough spring delays opening of Moonstone Farm market

The vagaries of Alaska agriculture have delayed the opening of Moonstone Farm’s twice-a-week summer market.

Originally slated to open July 3 to start its Thursday and Saturday, 2 to 6 p.m. summer schedule, the original Colony farm operation had to push its inaugural market to July 10 because of unusually cold and windy spring conditions.

Michelle Church, who owns and operates the farm with her husband, David, a third-generation descendant of the colonists who started the operation, said there were two frosts this year after they started their planting. Then, “horrific winds” came in and disrupted transplanted starts.

The end result was a two- to three-week delay in getting everything in the ground.

“It’s been super cold. We didn’t get everything planted until the 10th of June,” she said. “When you have a 12-week season from frost to frost, losing two or three weeks is a big deal,” she said. “But that’s farming in Alaska.”

Despite the setback, there will be an assortment of goods for shoppers to choose from on July 10. Fresh produce will include some early greens, like spinach and arugula, and some onions grown in Moonstone’s hoop houses, which were less affected by weather conditions. There will also be peonies, herbs, and herb products.

Later in July, options will increase as other crops start producing. That means Moonstone Farm’s famous pickled peas will become available.

The unusual spring conditions did not delay the opening of Moonstone’s Railcar Tasting Room. Featuring an array of locally produced beers, ciders, wine, cocktails, soft drinks, and a million-dollar view of the farm and Chugach Mountains, the Tasting Room is open Thursdays and Saturdays from 2 to 8 p.m. Located off the Parks Highway frontage road behind the Palmer KOA campground, the Railcar Tasting Room is also available to rent for private parties, weddings, and other functions. Later in the summer, the Railcar will be the location for at least one, and possibly three, special multi-course farm-to-table dinners, following the popularity of the events last year. The first one is scheduled for early September. Church said interested people should keep an eye on Moonstone Farm’s Facebook for details, as they develop. The special dinners are part of a planned turn toward agri-tourism at Moonstone. Farm tours are also available, and so are stays at the farm’s onsite bed and breakfast.

Fresh produce lovers have other options around the Valley while waiting for Moonstone to open for the summer.

Bushes Bunches, the landmark farm stand on the Old Glenn Highway, just outside Palmer, is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. A one-stop shop for an all Alaska-grown dinner, the store offers meat, seafood, and fresh produce along with locally baked breads, pastries, and cookies, sauces, pasta, flour, seeds, and milk all made or harvested in Alaska.

A few plant starts and hanging flower baskets remain, too.

Sun Circle Farm had its first farm stand of the summer last week and will continue to do so every Tuesday from 4 to 7 p.m. Located on Farm Loop Road off Palmer Fishhook, Sun Circle launched with a bang, offering a typical assortment of cut flowers alongside certified organic bagged spring greens, arugula, spinach, lettuce, snow apple turnips, radishes, baby bok choi, green onions, rhubarb, and broccoli.

The popular Matanuska Community Farmers Market continues to draw crowds to its Wednesday evening event. Located on Denali Street at the Church of a Thousand Trees in downtown Palmer, the outdoor market runs from 4 to 7 p.m. each week, including today.

In addition to the usual and growing array of farmed goods from local growers, shoppers can find baked good from two microbakeries – Delaney’s Sourdough and Bradley Lake Bakery – locally roasted small-batch coffee beans from Aethereal Coffee, and salmon fillets and patties from Palmer’s North Soul Salmon.

In Wasilla, the city’s farmers market runs Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the west end of Iditapark, near the corner of Nelson Avenue and Weber Street. The market also features crafters and food trucks.

Later in the week, the Willow Farmers Market is open and running at the Willow Community Center every Friday through Sept. 5 from 2 to 7 p.m. Also on Fridays, farm-fresh goods can be found at the Friday Fling in downtown Palmer. It is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.